


Anglerfish

by ScrollingKingfisher



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Animal Metaphors, Character Study, Dark, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 00:12:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11520459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrollingKingfisher/pseuds/ScrollingKingfisher
Summary: Castiel once told them that Archangels were heaven’s most terrifying weapon. Gabriel is no exception.





	Anglerfish

**Author's Note:**

> Not my usual fare, but this idea kicked me awake at 2am so I could write it down! Enjoy!

 

 

  

   Even with the apocalypse looming, and a new and unexpected ally, life goes on. Dean’s out getting food, and had Cas tagged along with him, only sparing a long glance at the last two occupants of the motel room before he left.

 

   Sam knows that Gabriel is technically on their side now, but that doesn’t mean he trusts him. He’s got one eye on Gabriel where he’s sat in the corner of the room, the other on his research.

 

   Gabriel’s sitting remarkably still, almost unnaturally so, sprawled in an armchair. Cas once told them that archangels were heaven's most terrifying weapons. With that in mind, most other people would look at Gabriel and say, there’s no way that _he’s_ an archangel. He’s too soft. Too _human_. It’s a very convincing lie, and looking at the other archangels they’ve met, Sam might almost believe it.

 

   If he had to describe them, Michael would be a wolf. Loyal, relentless, the strength of a pack behind him. Lucifer might be a great white bear, scarred and battered, unpredictable and deadly. Raphael is an eagle, all raw power and majesty.

 

   Sam’s been stalling on a metaphor to use for Gabriel for a while now. Nothing quite fit. But he’s finally figured it out. Gabriel’s not a cute dog, or a platypus. Nowhere near.

 

   Gabriel is an anglerfish.

 

   He doesn’t seem like a vicious predator of the deep at first. That’s the point. He’s humorous and light, carefully relaxed in their presence. But the affection of humanity, the trickster trappings, the sweets and mocking laughter, it’s all a neat disguise. A lure to draw you closer, bright and dancing and almost irresistible. Even Sam finds himself drawn towards Gabriel, falling under the spell. There’s something about the way he moves, the way he talks. Something that invitingly promises _more, better_ , if you’ll step just a little closer.

 

   But behind that bright façade, there’s something lurking in the darkness. Something bigger and much more dangerous, bulging opalescent eyes all-seeing, rows and rows of jagged teeth ready to impale anything that gets too close. It’s too easy to forget that what they’re looking at is a vessel. The real Gabriel is not there. No, Gabriel is looming behind, just out of sight. Sometimes, if Sam concentrates hard, he can feel it; a prickle on the back of his neck. A presence in the corner of the room. He even captures glimpses sometimes. The split second before a crowd of demons are reduced to a grease smear on an abandoned warehouse floor. When he wakes in the middle of the night to find Gabriel’s vessel watching them through the darkness, still as a predator, eyes gleaming in the night.

 

   Because that’s what Gabriel really is. A patient predator, playing the long game. Hidden in depths so dark and deep that only prey will ever find him. And then? Well, Gabriel’s prey never live to tell the tale. Sam’s not easily frightened, has never been one to run from danger, but with Gabriel… He’s fascinated, but he knows better than to get too close.

 

   Gabriel’s staring at him from across the room, head tilted curiously. Like he finds Sam’s wariness amusing.

 

   “Something up, Sam?” He asks, eyes too-bright and shining with illusions. He smiles, and Sam wonders whether he’s the only one who can see the rows upon rows of jagged needle teeth behind it.

 

   “No, I’m good. Thanks.”

 

   He’s glad that they have an archangel on their side, on humanity’s side. But with Gabriel in their camp, all Sam can hope for is that they stay off the menu.

 


End file.
